Manager Mike Redmond sent former Marlins' teammate Josh Beckett a text Sunday afternoon congratulating him on his no-hitter against the Philaldelphia Phillies.

May 25, 2014|By Juan C. Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel

MIAMI – Manager Mike Redmond wasted no time reaching out to Josh Beckett Sunday after he learned of the right-hander's no-hitter. Not long after the Marlins' 7-1 loss to the Brewers, Redmond fired off a text to his former Marlins' teammate.

"I'm happy for him," Redmond said. "I told him when we were in L.A., 'This might end up being your best year because you're just going out having fun.'"

Beckett, who happened to be opposing another former Marlins' right-hander in A.J. Burnett Sunday against Philadelphia, walked three and struck out six during the 128-pitch performance.

The Marlins' first-round pick in 1999 (second overall), Beckett made his major league debut on Sept. 4, 2001. Charles Johnson was behind the plate that day, but Redmond caught his third career start three weeks later in Philadelphia, where Beckett won his second career game.

"I said [in the text], 'Hey man, at least you had a good catcher [Sunday],'" Redmond said.

Close to home

Friday's shooting tragedy at the University of California-Santa Barbara hit close to home for outfielder Christian Yelich. One of the victims was Veronika Weiss, 19, a freshman at UCSB who was a freshman at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks when Yelich was a senior there.

Yelich did not know Weiss, but he learned of her death through social media.

"I do know people who know her," Yelich said. "It's a shame. I feel bad for her family. She didn't do anything wrong. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some idiot…it's unfair."

Brewer killer

The Marlins don't play the Brewers again until Sept. 8-11 at Miller Park, but those games can't arrive soon enough for John Baker. Saturday, Baker's pinch-hit, RBI-single in the seventh was the difference in the Marlins' 2-1 win.

That hit was Baker's 41st in 109 career at-bats against the Brewers, giving him a .376 lifetime average against them. The only players with higher career marks against Milwaukee (min. 100 at-bats) are Troy Tultowitzki (.404, 55-for-136), Brian Jordan (52-for-137, .380) and Jeffrey Frye (44-for-116, .379). Baker lost four points off his career average against the Brewers when he struck out in a pinch-hit at-bat Sunday.

The only other teams against which Baker has hit better than .300 (min. 50 at-bats) are the Marlins (.328) and Phillies (.305).

Capital punishment

Winning at Nationals Park, where the Marlins open a three-game set Monday afternoon, has proved difficult of late. Including a three-game sweep earlier this season, the Marlins since 2012 are lost 18 of 22 games there.

Nationals' pitchers during that stretch have held the Marlins to a .230 team batting average – including a .199 mark with runners in scoring position – and .654 on-base plus slugging percentage. The Marlins' rotation has held its own, but the bullpen has struggled in Washington since 2012, allowing a .313/.388/.518 slash line in 249 at-bats…

Right-hander Alex Sanabia, who the Marlins earlier this month signed to a minor league deal, has made a pair of five-inning starts for Triple-A New Orleans. He is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA, two walks, 11 strikeouts and a .237 opponents' batting average.